Hi
No local fish stores?? Have never been brave enough to buy fish on line which unless you want something really rare is too expensive especially when you figure in shipping.
Have always bought plants on line because local suppliers have a limited choice ,sickly plants or are too expensive or all 3 at once.lol
"Aquarium plant depot" has a fantastic choice as well as the quality is good.
There are tons of sites on the web for sure . Google Tropical fish profiles" Is this your first tank?? gary

Hi there. Yes, I have a local fish store, but with very limited stock IMO. We also have PetCo, PetSmart, etc. I just don't find the selection very great, and a I was talking with another customer at the local fish store, and she was the one who said the way to go was online. Huge selection, fish come quickly and healthy, and some have reasonable shipping. I am not finding that with my limited searching so far though. Shipping is like $30 regardless of size of order! Yikes!

I will check out that website for plants. I have only one right now, which is some sort of red crypt. It's pretty, but I paid $8 for it. If I want to stock the whole tank at those prices, I will go broke.

No, this is not my first tank, but it is my first halfway sizeable tank. I always had a 10 gallon, which I could never keep much going in past a year or so. I was always told by my LFS that the size is just too small to keep my parameters consistent, so I have a 35 gallon long tank right now. I am hopeful I can keep it going, thriving...

Thanks again for the site, and I'll post if I end up ordering online to let you all know how it went.

Sandy

Hi
Two very good online sites for fish and equipment are
Pet Solutions and Drs Forster and Smith

Find a local fish society and join it! There are people in the group I've just moved away from who are professionals in one venue or another, amateurs with decades of knowledge, and newbies like myself. I have bought fish and plants at the monthly auctions - for FAR cheaper than either in store or online, plus no shipping fees... I have also gotten a world of advice from the people there, usually on our online forum, as the meetings tend to be hectic. One nice thing about buying plants at the meetings is that if they don't live (about half haven't made it in my tank) I'm not out a ton of money. My fish, on the other hand, have done wonderfully. Tap that wealth of knowledge and have a blast...

You say you are cycling your tank before you have any fish?
That's great! Its the best way not to stress the fish during the cycling process.

What are you using for a source of ammonia? I had a source at work for the pure stuff, but cheap sore brands work too. Are you monitoring the water? I checked mine (using strips and a Seachem Ammonia monitor) every day when I did a fish-less cycle, took about 20 days to get to zero ammonia and nitrites. I too added a plant from a very good LFS as starter culture.

As soon as I added the fish they ate the plant! (but my goldfish are 6 inches long.)